TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH on THE HISTORY CHANNEL(R)

TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH on THE HISTORY CHANNEL(R)

Narrated by Matthew Settle

World premiere on Monday, July 18th at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT

NEW YORK, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- America's westward expansion has been documented, celebrated, and lamented throughout history. No single man did more to push into the vast and perilous West than the legendary fur trader, Jedediah Smith. Viewers can follow this intrepid pioneer on his ten-year journey through and his epic clashes with the American Indian tribes in the early 1800s, as The History Channel presents TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH, premiering Monday, July 18th at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT. The two- hour program is narrated by Matthew Settle (Band of Brothers, Into the West).

The American West was a land of unknown dangers when 23-year-old Jedediah Smith set out from St. Louis with the Ashley-Henry Fur Company in 1822. Well- read, confident, and ambitious, Smith had qualities that forged trust and allowed him to become a great leader of men, inspiring respect and loyalty. His men stuck with him through the harshest conditions the West had to offer -- hostile terrain, bitter cold and scorching heat, bear attacks and bloody battles with Indian tribes. He made a small fortune trading furs by the time he was 30, but the real story was the pioneering spirit that drove him to cover 15,000 miles of the wild American West, becoming the first known white man to reach California over land and also the first to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Find out what drove Smith to press on when others wouldn't and to stand up to fights that few could have survived in TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH.

Highlights of TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH include:

* A trading incident gone bad with the Arikara tribe of South Dakota,
leading to a brutal nighttime attack on Smith's fur company along the
riverbank. Smith and a few men narrowly escape the slaughter that
befalls the rest of their compatriots.

* The ill-fated attempt at revenge on the Arikara, as Smith and the
Missouri Legion join forces with the Arikara's hated rivals, the
Lakota Sioux. More violence, bloodshed, and tension ensue.

* The account from a colleague's diary in which Smith is attacked by a
Grizzly Bear and has his scalp ripped from his skull and one of his
ears nearly torn off. He survives and remains conscious through an
excruciating field surgery by his men, even talking them through their
panic while being pierced with a needle and thread, then returns to
the wilderness ten days later.

* Smith's location of the South Pass, the easiest wagon route through
the Rockies, which becomes a key to westward expansion later on.

* A brutal sneak attack on Smith's men by the Mojave Indians along the
Colorado River, which Smith and several others watch helplessly from
the bank of the river.

* Another incident of trading gone bad with the Umpqua Indians, which
results in a bloodbath at the trappers' camp while Smith is off
scouting. The incident weighs heavily on Smith as he begins to lament
the lives that have been lost on his expeditions.

* Smith's final, fateful journey, a trading expedition to Mexico with
his brothers, in which Smith meets his end at the hands of Comanche
warriors while looking for water for his men.

Featuring balanced commentary from old West historians and American Indians, TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH gives both detail and perspective on how Jedediah Smith helped shape America's move westward.

Margaret G. Kim is Executive Producer for The History Channel. TAMING THE WILD WEST: THE LEGEND OF JEDEDIAH SMITH was produced by Indigo Films for The History Channel. Executive Producer for Indigo Films is David Frank. Chris Eyre and Diana Zaslaw are Co-producers.

Chris Eyre is an award-winning American Indian director especially well known for his 1998 feature film Smoke Signals.

Now reaching more than 88 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel(R), "Where the Past Comes Alive(R)," brings history to life in a powerful manner and provides an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. In 2004, The History Channel earned five News and Documentary Emmy(R) Awards and previously received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's "Save Our History(R)" campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. The History Channel web site is located at http://www.historychannel.com/.

Source: The History Channel

CONTACT: Kathie Gordon, +1-212-210-1320, kathie.gordon@aetn.com for The
History Channel

Web site: http://www.historychannel.com/

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information and photography please visit us on the web at http://www.historychannelpress.com.

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